Hall of Fame
Paul Wesley Jones, a native of Detroit and graduate of Detroit Pershing High School, lettered two seasons in track at Wayne State in 1962 and 1963. He was one of the team's top hurdlers and sprinters during WSU's membership in the Presidents Athletic Conference (PAC).
Jones led a contingent of Tartars to the 1963 Penn Relays, track's most prestigious event each season. Running in the 120-yard high hurdles, Jones got off to a slow start, as he was the last man over the first hurdle. But he came on strong, and crossed the finish line first at 14.2. Jones' time erased a 26-year-old team record held by Hall of Fame member Al Tolmich.
Earlier that year Jones won the PAC 120-yard high hurdles title at 14.9, leading the Tartars to their second straight PAC team title. Jones finished the season as the team's leader with 152.5 individual points. During Wayne State's indoor season, Jones set three records in the 60-yard dash (6.2), 60-yard high hurdles (7.4) and 65-yard high hurdles (8.5).
Besides his two PAC titles at Wayne State, Jones also won two other conference championships at Eastern Michigan, where he attended before enrolling at Wayne State in 1961. Jones enrolled at EMU in January 1957 two weeks after graduating from high school, and lettered two seasons in indoor and outdoor track for the Hurons. Both seasons EMU won the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles.
The Hurons also ran in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Track Meet both seasons. Jones finished fifth in the 120-yard high hurdles (16.15) and 220-yard low hurdles in 1957.
After leaving EMU, Jones competed as an unattached runner with the Detroit Track and Detroit Varsity Clubs. He came within one spot of competing for the 1960 U.S. Olympic Trials in 110-meter high hurdles when he finished fifth in the semi-finals at 14.3 at the 72nd National AAU Championships held in Bakersfield, Calif. Jones won the third heat at 14.5. At an earlier Olympic Trial, the Midwest Open AAU Meet, Jones finished third in the 110-meter high hurdles at 14.2
While at Wayne, Jones also tied the Canadian National Indoor mark in the 50-yard high hurdles at 6.3 at the old Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
After graduating from Wayne State in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Physical Education, Jones taught in the Detroit Public Schools for three years, and continued to compete in track, winning regional team titles with a former teammate, Hall of Fame member John Telford. At the 1964 Midwest AAU Meet in Dayton, he ran a personal-best 13.5 in the 110-meter high hurdles. At that time the world record was 13.2. In his last competitive meet before retiring, Jones won the 110-meter high hurdles at 13.9 in the 1967 Ohio Relays.
From 1967-74 Jones worked in sales with several corporations, including Shell Oil, Johnson & Johnson, and Hallmark Cards. In 1974, he joined the Kellogg Company in Battle Creek, Mich. In December 1996, he retired after 22-1/2 years as a member of Kellogg's Human Resources Department, where he was the senior employment representative for Kellogg USA.
Jones is active in his church as treasurer and secretary for the Board of Directors of the Washington Heights Community Ministries, conducted by the Washington Heights United Methodist Church.
Jones and his wife Norma, reside in Battle Creek, Mich., and are the parents of two children, son Brian and daughter Meredith.
